Factory Keyless Entry vs. Aftermarket Keyless Entry

[LukeZ34]

No, this isn't a topic to decide which is better, rather it's more about how to keep these 2 units from fighting with each other.

 

(RKE = Remote Keyless Entry, for those that don't know)

 

To begin, my factory RKE didn't work. If you plugged in the RKE box to it's harness, you could lock, but NOT unlock the doors from the door panel buttons (the relay just clicks) . If you remove the RKE box, ONLY the passenger side power locks (Lock and unlock) work, drivers side won't do a thing, and both panel buttons work.

 

So last night, I installed the Crimestopper RKE I bought. Spliced it in to the lines, and much to my surprise, they still worked the SAME way with the new keyless remote. So I plugged in the factory RKE box again, and both doors lock, but they don't unlock, same as before.

 

I stopped by the nice, local Pontiac dealer, and they let me dig through their old service manuals so I could find electrical diagrams of the factory RKE setup. I find what I need, they copy them off, and I'm on my way. After studying the diagrams, I remembered that the factory keyless entry has the primary drivers unlock feature. Press the unlock button on the remote once, and it just unlocks the drivers side, twice and it unlocks all doors. So, at the factory RKE harness (in the rear deck), there's a TAN colored wire, for the drivers side door, and applying 12+ power to that wire, triggers the door to unlock. Now, for the passenger side door, there is 2 wires for lock and unlock, Lt. Blue, and Blk & Lt. Blue. Applying 12+ volts to those triggers the passenger side door to lock or unlock. So I try bridging the tan wire, with the unlock wire and press the unlock button, and get nothing on the drivers door.

 

I'm confused at this point in the game. The lock actuator in the drivers side door is fine, it WILL lock and unlock when the connections are right, just not at the same time. The power lock relay (under the pass. dash) seems to be functioning fine, but the rest of it just isn't cooperating. According to the diagrams, the factory RKE box is just added in to the existing power lock system so it can be remotely automated, but can't figure out why that unit plays such a big role.

Does anyone have ANY ideas? Do you have to have a functioning factory RKE for an aftermarket one to work? I sure hope not, cause that's not an easy thing to find at all.

Any advice is helpful.

Thanks

[godofthunder]

Just an idea...i doubt you would have to have a factory RKE to add an aftermarket thing...unless it was specific to our car.

 

I remember when we were looking for one for my GF's old truck...it actually came with a PDL kit too (this truck had NO options). You could also add RKE to anything that had PDL's

 

jon

[LukeZ34]

Well, what I think I may try doing, is seeing how the passenger side door lock actuator is wired up, and then duplicating that same wiring on the drivers side. I'll have to see what is possible.

[PaPaPooh]

welcome to the keyless entry blues luke

[LukeZ34]

Oh I've had them ever since I bought the car.. I just never thought (and still don't think) that the factory RKE box was so dependant on the operability of the power locks.

 

I'm gonna check out my step brother's 91 Cutlass and see how his works. The RKE box went out in that years ago when my dad owned it, and has been removed. If I recall, the power locks still work fine.

[GnatGoSplat]

You should just be able to bridge the large 12 or 14GA (don't remember which) TAN-WHT wire from the passenger side to the TAN-WHT wire at the driver side.

 

For my car, it was tan with a white stripe, not just tan. Maybe that's the problem?

 

You should not need to keep the RKE module in there. There is more than one way to get rid of it. At one time I didn't want to touch the factory wiring of my car, so I built a simple relay box to bypass the RKE module. It's much simpler and cleaner (electrically) to just bridge the TAN-WHT wires though.

[LukeZ34]

Thanks you Shawn!

I'll give that a try this afternoon, and post how it goes.

[jheiv]

Same car Luke-- heres what I did...

 

If I took the factory RKE box out, I lost power locks. So I just opted to leave the box in. I mean besides, Its hidden under the rear deck so no one sees in anyway.

 

Although the box didn't work, I was still able to use power locks when I would leave it connected. So I did.

 

I wired the Aftermarket box up under the lower dash panel (all the wires are relatively close). My aftermarket box sent out little small-voltage signals, to activate the lock and unlock relays. I just made sure I spliced it to the right wires coming through the doorjamb. The rest was basically intuitive. The cool part about my aftermarket RKE, is that instead of installing interior illumination when the doors are unlocked, I wired it to a relay in parallel with my red underglow switch. So now, when I unlock my doors, my underglows go on for 30 seconds... pretty sweet to see at night, esp in a crowded parking lot where people all point.

[LukeZ34]

I bridged the 2 tan wires, and that did the trick. I just need to solder the connections together, and lubricate the drivers side door actuator (it's a little slow).

I also got my trunk release working as well. I had to bypass the PRND switch for the old auto transmission. I joined 2 wires together, and the trunk release works again!

 

Thanks for the help and advice everyone!! 8)

[PaPaPooh]

W00T!!!

 

now for mine!!!

[Mike]

This may seem like a dumb question, but does anybody have a pic of where the pwr door lock relay is located under the dash, I know it's under the pass. side, but I don't know what I'm looking for :oops: . Sorry the stupidity of question, but I can't find it.

 

Thanks

Mike

[PaPaPooh]

This may seem like a dumb question, but does anybody have a pic of where the pwr door lock relay is located under the dash, I know it's under the pass. side, but I don't know what I'm looking for :oops: . Sorry the stupidity of question, but I can't find it.

 

Thanks

Mike

 

what car year? maybe i can help

[LukeZ34]

I don't have a picture, but I will try to explain it as best as I can.

 

Under the passenger side of the dash, on the right side of the relay/fuse panel you'll see a little black box about 1 inch tall, and 2 inches wide. It has a diagram on the front with some numbers. Push your lock buttons (if your locks work) and you'll hear it click.

 

Hope that helps.

[Mike]

Thanks Luke, so the diagram you are talking about looks somewhat like a circut diagram?

my next question would be how can you tell if your relay is bad, cause my power locks don't seem to work that well (ie multiple pushes of the button to lock the doors, although unlocking seems to work fine. I think it's the relay, but not sure.....

 

just wanted to say thanks, this board is great!

 

Mike

[LukeZ34]

Yes, it has a circuit diagram on it.

 

If they just seem like their sticking (takes multiple presses of the button to move it fully) then it just needs a little oil. I had the exact same problem with both doors in my TGP. I just worked on the drivers side tonight, and it works better already.

It's not too simple of a process. I had to remove the door panel, unbolt the seatbelt roll, and pull back some of the plastic. Even then, it's not easy to get to the moving parts, so have a plastic nozzle on your can of oil, it'll make it much easier. You'll see the power lock actuator in the center of the door (gold colored solinoid), and the parts you need to oil are to the left of that behind the white plastic shield.

 

Good Luck